ACN’ll sweep 2014, 2015 polls, says Aregbesola

Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has said the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) will win all elective positions at the 2014 and 2015 polls.

The governor, flanked by his deputy, Mrs. Titi Laoye-Tomori, and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly, Mr. Akintunde Adegboye, who stood in for the Speaker, Hon. Najeem Salaam, spoke at the fourth edition of the Ogbeni Till Day Break, live programme aired on the television and radio from 8pm on Friday to 5am on Saturday.

He said “whoever raises his head outside the ACN will be defeated”.

The programme created an opportunity for people to interact with the governor and ask him questions.

Aregbesola said his administration’s objective was to improve the standard of living through the implementation of people-oriented policies and programmes.

Thanking the people for supporting his administration, he dispelled the rumour that the state’s debt profile had risen to N300 billion.

Explaining that no state aiming to be successful can operate within the ambit of its resources, Aregbesola said any serious government should learn to invest in the people, who in turn would develop their environment.

Criticising those peddling the rumour, he said: “I think what should be important to us is how the state’s resources are deployed.”

The governor said the rumour was aimed at destabilising the state’s progress.

He said the state’s monthly allocation from the Federation Account and its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) could not finance the development going on in the state, so his administration obtained some bonds from the capital market.

Aregbesola said: “There is nowhere in the world where borrowing or taking a loan is a taboo. Advanced nations also borrow money to execute projects. Any government that wants to succeed may need to borrow money for the execution of projects.

“The issue is not about debt, but what we are doing with the money. We queried the immediate-past administration because it sourced a short-term loan to finance long term projects which had no social benefit to the people. The effect of that loan was debilitating and suffocating.

“Banks are well structured and it will be hard or almost impossible to manipulate the process and procedure of getting loans from their system. We should also know that no serious bank will give you a loan above 50 per cent of what you are worth.

“The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other monetary agencies are monitoring their operations and if Osun is in debt, it would be listed among states in debt. We are also paying workers’ salary without stress. We paid May salary even when the Federal Allocation for April had not been paid.

“Those peddling the rumour are liars and enemies of the people and the state. Our debt profile is far below N30 billion.”

Debunking the rumour that he once slapped his deputy, Aregbesola said: “I have never beaten anybody in my life. In fact, I do not beat my children, let alone beat any other person. More so, the deputy governor is older than I am, so how can I beat an elderly person.

“I do not have any quarrel with my deputy and I cannot have any with her because I chose her; no one chose her for me. I chose her because I knew I could work with her. So, no differences exist between us.”

Mrs. Laoye-Tomori also debunked the rumour, saying she has a cordial relationship with Aregbesola.

On the crisis rocking the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), Aregbesola said: “Let the NGF take care of itself. The forum is a voluntary one and it is not compulsory that every governor must be a member.”